Staff Report
MaxPreps.com
Following the retirement of Lute Olson at Arizona, Bellarmine Prep (Tacoma, Wash.) point guard Abdul Gaddy has withdrawn his commitment to the Wildcats and will stay home to play for the Washington Huskies.
Speaking publicly for the first time Wednesday to KJR 950 host Dave “Softy” Mahler, Gaddy stated flatly that the turmoil in Tucson turned him away.
“I knew right when that happened (Olson’s retirement) that I wasn’t going to Arizona anymore,” Gaddy told KJR 950. “It was a tough decision. There really isn’t any stability there anymore. I took it as a sign that I needed to stay home.”
As a junior, the 6-foot-3 senior led Bellarmine Prep to a 26-4 record and a third-place finish at the Class 4A state tournament last March, averaging 23 points per game. He was named the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year and is a consensus top 15 player nationally in the class of 2009. Gaddy also considered UCLA after reneging on his pledge to Arizona.
The Tacoma star’s commitment ends a recent flood of Washington talent to out-of-state schools. Fellow class of 2009 stars Avery Bradley, Gaddy’s former teammate at Bellarmine Prep and now at Findlay Prep in Nevada, recently committed to Texas while Franklin (Seattle) star Peyton Siva is headed to Louisville. Rainier Beach’s Aaron Dotson committed to LSU last week.
An added bonus for Romar and the Huskies is that Gaddy doesn’t turn 17 until January of next year, so despite the one-and-done hype surrounding many of high school basketball’s top players, the point guard’s stay at Montlake will be a minimum of two years.
The commitment allows Gaddy to focus on his senior season for the Lions, which will be special despite the loss of running mate Bradley to the prep school scene. He will be joined by sophomore brother Donald in the Prep backcourt.
“We will be pretty good. We will surprise a lot of people,” Gaddy said. “It will be hard to make up for him (Bradley)…but I think it will help me make more of a leader. I will need to shoot more and dominate more. It will make a better overall player.”
Gaddy and Bellarmine Prep will participate in the MaxPreps Holiday Classic Dec. 26-30.
